This invention relates generally to improvements in syringe pumps and, more particularly, to a new and improved drive system and syringe for such pumps, wherein a disposible syringe cartridge having no valves is reliably and precisely mounted, monitored, and driven through repetitive fill and pump strokes.
The usual medical procedure for the gradual parenteral administration of liquids into the human body, such as liquid nutrients, blood or plasma, makes use of apparatus which is commonly referred to in the medical arts as an intravenous administration set. The intravenous set usually comprises a bottle of liquid, normally supported in an inverted position, an intravenous feeding tube, typically of clear plastic, and a suitable valve mechanism, such as a roll clamp, which allows the liquid to drip out of the bottle at a selectively adjustable rate into a transparent drip chamber below the bottle. The drip chamber serves the dual function of allowing a nurse or other attendant to observe the rate at which the liquid drips out of the bottle, and also creates a reservoir for the liquid at the lower end of the drip chamber to insure that no air enters the main feeding tube leading to the patient.
While observation of the rate of drop flow via the drip chamber is a simple way of controlling the amount of liquid fed to a patient over a period of time, its ultimate effectiveness requires that a relatively constant vigil be maintained on the drop flow, lest it cease entirely due to exhaustion of the liquid supplied or become a continuous stream and perhaps increase the rate of liquid introduction to the patient to dangerous levels.
By way of example, it has been the general practice in hospitals to have nurses periodically monitor drop flow rate at each intravenous feeding or parenteral infusion station. Such monitoring of drop flow is a tedious, and time consuming process, prone to error and associated, possibly serious consequences, and resulting in a substantial reduction of the available time of qualified medical personnel for other important duties. Typically, the nurse monitoring drop flow rate will use a watch to time the number of drops flowing in an interval of 1 or more minutes, and she will then mentally perform the mathematics necessary to convert the observed data to an appropriate fluid flow rate, e.g., in drops per minute. If the calculated flow rate is substantially different than the prescribed rate, the nurse must manually adjust the roll clamp for a new rate, count drops again, and recalculate to measure the new flow rate.
Obviously, each of the aforedescribed measurements, calculations and flow rate adjustments usually take several minutes time which, when multiplied by the number of stations being monitored and the number of times each station should be monitored per day, can result in a substantial percentage of total personnel time available. In addition, under the pressure of a heavy schedule, the observations and calculations performed by a harried nurse in measuring and adjusting flow rate may not always prove to be reliable and, hence, errors do occur resulting in undesired, possibly dangerous infusion flow rates.
In addition to the aforedescribed difficulties, the parenteral administration of medical liquids by gravity induced hydrostatic pressure infusion of the liquid from a bottle or other container suspended above the patient, is very susceptible to fluid flow rate variation due to changes in the liquid level in the bottle, changes in temperature, changes in the venous or arterial pressure of the patient, patient movement, and drift in the effective setting of the roll clamp or other valve mechanism pinching the feeding tube. Moreover, there are a number of situations, such as in intensive care, cardiac and pediatric patients, or where rather potent drugs are being administered, where the desired drop flow rate must be capable of very precise selection.
It will be apparent, therefore, that some of the most critical problems confronting hospital personnel faced with an overwhelming duty schedule and limited time availability are the problems of quickly, easily, reliably and accurately controlling fluid flow in the parenteral administration of medical liquids.
In recent years, a number of electrical monitoring systems, drop flow controllers and infusion pumps have been developed to accomplish the various tasks of sensing and regulating drop flow rates. However, while such devices have generally served their purpose, they have not always proven entirely satisfactory from the standpoint of cost, complexity, stability, reliability or accuracy. In addition, such systems have sometimes been subject to drift and substantial flow rate variations due to changes in temperature, feeding tube crimps, variations in venous or arterial pressure of the patient, or variations in the height of the bottle or solution level within the bottle.
Even positive pressure pumps of the closed-loop peristaltic type only serve to maintain accuracy of flow in terms of stabilizing to a preselected drop flow rate, rather than delivering a precise preselected volume of fluid, e.g., in cubic centimeters per hour. The reason for this is that the accuracy of such a system is limited inherently to the accuracy of the size of the drops produced by an intravenous administration set, and the actual drops produced by the latter apparatus can vary rather substantially from its designated drop size, e.g., due to drip chamber structural variations, by as much as 30 percent.
More recently, positive pressure infusion pumps of the syringe type have also been provided, wherein a syringe having a very precise displacement volume is repeatedly filled and emptied on alternate syringe piston strokes during a combined "fill" and "pump" operational cycle, so that control of the rate at which the syringe is filled and emptied provides an accurate means for precise fluid volume delivery over a prescribed period of time. Such syringe pumps are essentially independent of drop flow inaccuracies introduced by I.V. administration sets and appear to provide the best overall solution to accurate and stable fluid volume delivery over long periods of time, at both high and low flow rates.
At the heart of the syringe pump is the syringe itself. Such syringes must be sufficiently rugged and reliable to enable repetitive fill and pump strokes over sustained periods of pump operation without leaking, or admitting air or pathogens to the interior of the syringe. Where disposable syringes are involved, the syringe should preferably be of relatively simple and economical construction, easily handled for insertion into and removal from the remainder of the pumping apparatus and should be mounted in such a fashion as to facilitate removal of air prior to start-up. Unfortunately, however, such syringes of the prior art have been relatively complex and expensive, have been prone to leakage and have been relatively difficult to mount and remove.
In addition, syringe pumps of the prior art primarily depend on valving embodied directly within the syringe itself, for switching from the fill mode to the pumping mode. This not only increases the cost and complexity of the syringe, particularly where disposable syringes are employed, but usually also results in reduced reliability of operation.
Furthermore, it has been difficult at low flow rates, when the syringe piston is moving so slowly that its motion is not visually discernible by the operator, to determine whether or not the syringe is being driven at all.
Hence, those concerned with the development and use of parenteral fluid administration systems, and particularly those concerned with the design of syringe pumps, have long recognized the need for improved, relatively simple, economical, reliable, stable and accurate syringes, monitoring and drive systems for such syringe pumps. The present invention clearly fulfills this need.